Pittsburgh’s Resilience Journey

In recent decades, Pittsburgh has emerged as an active hub for technology, education, healthcare and finance. The loss of steel production and industrial manufacturing jobs drove many younger residents from the city, and increased the relative size of the elderly population, but officials see these new sectors, along with the available housing stock, as strong levers for growth.

To support this trend, Pittsburgh will need to address its industrial legacy—including regional energy production, and its transportation system and land-use patterns—which continues to impact the city’s air and water quality.

Pittsburgh has also focused on mitigating challenges created by severe weather events, such as blizzards and heavy rains. With its landscape of hills and rivers, flooding poses a serious threat to the city’s bridge and tunnel networks and aging water containment infrastructure. Additional resources will be needed to support Pittsburgh’s current efforts, which are centered on a flood management system and the expansion of green infrastructure.

The city of Pittsburgh released its Resilience Strategy on March 2017. Explore the strategy here: